Folding mobile shelters

ABSTRACT

A mobile shelter wherein a portable rectangular open box is telescopically covered by an inverted open box which projects slightly therepast; one end wall of each box is free of the sides thereof at the corners, has one side hinged to its respective box and the other side hinged to the adjacent end wall of the opposite box for swinging movement of the covering box on said end walls to a position above the covered box and for enlargement of the interior of the shelter.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Allan C. W. Hancock 134 Eugenie St., St. Boniface, 6 Manitoba, Canada [2]] A p]. No. 839,013

[22] Filed July 3, 1969 [45] Patented 0ct.l9,l97l

[54] FOLDING MOBILE SHELTERS 4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 296/23,

52/66, 296/27 [51] Int. Cl B60p 3/34 [50] Field of Search .i 296/23, 26,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,168,062 8/1939 Davey 296/23 2,837,778 6/1958 Kern 52/69 X Primary ExaminerPhilip Goodman Att0rneyl(ent & Ade

ABSTRACT: A mobile shelter wherein a portable rectangular open box is telescopically covered by an inverted open box which projects slightly therepast; one end wall of each box is free of the sides thereof at the comers, has one side hinged to its respective box and the other side hinged to the adjacent end wall of the opposite box for swinging movement of the covering box on said end walls to a position above the covered box and for enlargement of the interior of the shelter.

PATENTEDum 19 Ian 3,514, 152

m: 29 INVENTO '0 5 Anon C.W.Hon

Agent FOLDING MOBILE SHELTERS Portable house shelter might be divided into two groups, such as the Fixed Built and the Demountable Tent.

The fixed built shelter is usually heavy and hard to handle on the road, receives considerable air resistance, is expensive on gasoline in hauling, is costly to buy, besides being a nuisance to other drivers as it blocks the road ahead. The advantages are comfort, low depreciation, convenience and security, good looking, warm and quiet, and requires no assembling when stopped for occupancy.

The demountable tent shelter is not comfortable or convenient, has high depreciation, poor looks, is often cold, insecure and easy to break into. The advantages are light weight, easy to handle on the road, little resistance to air and therefore has less consumption travelling and it is economical to buy.

The principal objects of the present invention are: to provide a shelter which combines most of the advantages of the above two groups and few of the disadvantages, namely; it has portability, light weight, ease of handling on the road, low gas consumption, low depreciation, good looks, any range of size or price, is quiet and warm, secure, convenient and comfortable, high resistance to break-in, almost no assembling required, low riding which reduces air resistance and permits vision ahead to drivers coming up behind and can be carried by a truck or a trailer.

A further object of the invention is: to attain the above advantages by invertedly telescoping two open boxes together for compact travel, while hanging said boxes for expanded occupancy, when arriving at a destination.

A still further object of the invention is: to construct the device for a simple lever-operable movement to open for occupancy or close same for transport, and said movement can be controlled manually or by power.

With the above important and other minor objects in view, which will become more apparent as the disclosure proceeds, the invention consists essentially in the design, construction and arrangement of the various parts hereinafter more particularly described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention as a trailer ready for the road.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the trailer ready for occupancy.

FIG. 3 is a partial vertical cross section taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 1.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal vertical section through the trailer shown in FIG. 1 and showing the elevated position of FIG. 2 in dot-and-dash outline.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

A rectangular support frame is indicated at in FIGS. 3 and 4 and is supported on each side by wheels 11 through suitable spring 12. The side members of the frame 10 extend ahead in a V-shape 13 to form a draft hitch (not shown).

A boxing I4 is supported on the frame 10. This boxing presents a floor 15 which extends from a rear cross piano hinge 16 to a front rolled-up header 17 which terminates in a further upper cross piano hinge 18. A pair of opposite sidewalls 19 project upwardly from the floor 15 while the rear wall 20 is free of the sidewalls at the corners so it can swing down on the hinge 16 to a horizontal position, as shown in FIG. 4. A half-door 21 (shown in FIG. 2) is provided in the center of one of the sidewalls 19 and is supported on vertical hinges 22.

A further boxing 23 is inverted and telescoped over the lower boxing 14, its sides 24 thereof sliding down outside of the walls 19 of said lower boxing. This boxing 23 has its front wall 25 free of the sides 24 at the corners so it can pivot horizontally on a cross piano hinge 26 carried by the roof 27. The edge of this front wall, remote from the hinge 26, is pivoted on a piano hinge 18 on the front wall of the lower boxing 14, while the rear end wall of the roof 27 is rounded off, as at 28, with its lower rear corner pivoted by a piano hinge 29 to the edge of the rear wall 20 of the boxing 14 remote from the hinge 16. One side 24 of the boxing 23 is provided with a halfdoor 30, swingable on vertical hinges 31 and is provided with a lower manually operable handle 32. Suitable windows 33 can also be provided in the sides 24.

Due to the horizontal positions of the end walls 20 and 25, as shown in FIG. 4, the upper boxing 23 does not completely cover the boxing 14 but is partly offset toward the rear thereof, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. When so telescoped, the roof 27 of the upper boxing rests on the upper edges of the sides 19 and, as shown in FIG. 1, the forward side of the upper boxing covers the half-door 21 of the lower boxing.

In a small trailer, such as shown in the drawings, a control arm 34 is centrally secured across the front wall 25 (see FIGS. 1 and 4). This arm projects upwardly from the hinge 18 in a quarter curve, and then projects ahead horizontally. When an operator presses this projecting arm down, the wall 25 swings up on the hinge 18 in the manner of a lever to the vertical position shown in dot-and-dash outline at 35 in FIG. 4. This movement causes the rear end 20 to swing up on the hinge 16 in the same manner and to the dot-and-dash position 36, thus lifting the upper boxing 23 above the boxing l4, asshown in FIG. 2 (and dot-and-dash position shown in FIG. 4), the movement being stopped by the end 20 contacting the rear ends of the lower boxing sides 19. At this time, the half-door will be lifted to a position above the half-door 21 so they can be secured together (not shown) and swing as a full-sized door. It will also be noted in FIG. 4 that the control arm 34 has swung down around the rolled header end wall 17 to form a front leg 37 for the trailer (dot-and-dash outline) and the hitch can be disconnected from the draft vehicle (not shown). On larger trailers having greater weight, a telescoping jack 38 can be provided on each side of the trailer to lift the upper boxing (see dotand-dash outline in FIGS. 1 and 2). These jacks can be operated manually by a ratchet or by hydraulic power. It will also be appreciated that the two boxings can easily be locked together, either in closed or open position, to prevent unauthorized entrance and to prevent collapsing respectively. To close the trailer for travel it is only necessary to move the control arm 34 ahead and around the hinge 18, or release the operating jacks 38. The upper boxing will then smoothly collapse into place over the lower boxing, as shown in FIG. 1.

From the above disclosure it will be seen that the trailer can be collapsed for road travel in a matter of moments and will offer very little wind resistance as it will be low down and well behind the draft vehicle, or it can be opened up to full scale living quarters in a very simple movement almost instantly, and with solid support. As furniture (not shown) will be contained in the lower boxing, it will not interfere with the above opening or closing movements. It will be appreciated of course that suitable packing or insulation will be provided between the two boxings to keep the spacing there between draft free and without interfering with the movement of the upper boxing and the movements of the two pivoted end walls 20 and 25. Various modifications may be added to the shelter to enhance its usefulness, such as the addition of skiis or pontoons, or it can be carried by a truck in the manner of a camper without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a folding mobile shelter, a pair of open-topped boxings having walls; one of said boxings inverted in respect to the other of said boxings and telescoped thereover, with one end wall of each boxing hinged thereto and oppositely hinged to the adjacent end wall of the other boxing and form cranks such that the telescoped boxing can swing upwardly in a parallelogram movement on said hinged end walls to an elevated position above the other of said boxings.

2. A folding mobile shelter as defined in claim 1, wherein each of said boxings are provided on one side thereof with a half door, and said half doors are adapted to come into vertical alignment, when said telescoped boxing is elevated, to form a full-sized door for entrance into said shelter.

half door on the other of said boxings is covered liy the telescoped boxing, when said latter boxing is lowered, and a pair of jacks are provided, one on each side of the shelter, for elevating and lowering said telescoped boxing. 

1. In a folding mobile shelter, a pair of open-topped boxings having walls; one of said boxings inverted in respect to the other of said boxings and telescoped thereover, with one end wall of each boxing hinged thereto and oppositely hinged to the adjacent end wall of the other boxing and form cranks such that the telescoped boxing can swing upwardly in a parallelogram movement on said hinged end walls to an elevated position above the other of said boxings.
 2. A folding mobile shelter as defined in claim 1, wherein each of said boxings are provided on one side thereof with a half door, and said half doors are adapted to come into vertical alignment, when said telescoped boxing is elevated, to form a full-sized door for entrance into said shelter.
 3. A folding mobile shelter as defined in claim 1, wherein said boxings are mounted on wheels, and arm means are provided on one of said hinged end walls for manually operating said end walls to lift the telescoped boxing to said elevated position and provide a supporting leg for the shelter.
 4. A folding mobile shelter as defined in claim 2 wherein the half door on the other of said boxings is covered by the telescoped boxing, when said latter boxing is lowered, and a pair of jacks are provided, one on each side of the shelter, for elevating and lowering said telescoped boxing. 